FoA Chapter 21

“What’s wrong?” you ask, suddenly full of panic.

“It’s taking longer than we thought. We need more time. Stark’s on her way back from the south road. We can’t let her get back to the station. You have to stop her. Buy us time,” Stef orders.

She hangs up, and you stand there trying to adjust. But it’s time you don’t have. Gurlberg is not a big town. The south road? That’s not even that far. And the department? It’s like right up the street from this restaurant. You were so occupied with Riley that you weren’t even thinking about what the rest of the club is doing tonight.

But they need your help. You stuff the phone in your pocket and hurry back to the table.

“I’m so sorry,” you say, stricken. “I have to go.” You throw money on the table and rush out of the restaurant, stumbling to a stop on the sidewalk and looking left. The department is just up that way and around the corner. And the south road? You look right. Stark will be coming from that way.

But how do you stop her? Your head is buzzing, and it’s not just the stress of the moment, it’s misery. Now it’s twice that you’ve bailed on Riley.

Oh, man. What are you going to do to make this work? Something like you did at Goldfinger? You are so lucky that you got away with that. You just have to distract her.

You can think of something. You start to jog south, cutting into the empty street. There’s not much traffic in Gurlberg ever, let alone in the evening. Maybe you can fake an injury? Flag her down and pretend to need help? For all you know, Stark will just run you over. She doesn’t like you very much.

You realize that you aren’t alone. You turn around to see that Riley has followed you out of the restaurant, looking concerned.

“What are you doing here?” you ask, suddenly feeling totally blank, yet also angry.

“Something is obviously wrong,” she says, planting her hands on her hips and matching your gaze. “Was it something I said?”

“What?” you ask, lost. “What, no. No. I have to do a thing.”

“A thing?”

“Yes.” You look around in panic, trying to think straight. Stark’s going to be coming along any second, and you’re standing in the middle of the street with Riley. Why didn’t she stay back there? There has to be something you can do.

The club is counting on you.

“If you don’t want to hang out with me, you can just say so,” Riley says, annoyed.

You stare at her. “I do want to. I just can’t tonight.”

“Why are you in the street?” she demands. “Like, what the fuck?”

You look around yourself. You two must look crazy standing out here. You are crazy. What are you doing? You need to be figuring out a plan, but you can’t take your eyes off her. She’s so pretty.

Riley is like a window into another dimension. She’s safe and normal and perfect. Being with her would be so different from the chaos that is your life.

“Adella,” she says impatiently. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m OK!” you shout.

“You don’t look OK!” You’re both shouting. “You’re standing in the fucking street!”

“I have to do a thing for the club, OK?”

“What thing? Why right now?”

“It’s just really important!” you say desperately.

“I can see that!” Riley spreads her arms. “Why don’t you tell me? I’ll help you.”

You aren’t facing south, but you still notice when the headlights come around the corner. You hear the car coming.

It’s Stark. Time stops, and you just don’t know what to do. Riley’s in front of you, confronting you stubbornly. She’s really worried, and you can’t blame her. You’re acting crazy. She doesn’t know you very well, but she still cares because she’s a nice person. Unlike you.

Now she notices the headlights and the approaching vehicle.

The decision happens in a split second. You can’t take it back.

You grab her by the shoulders and kiss her. Initially startled, she stiffens up, then melts into it. Her hand touches your waist, and you savor her soft lips.

But then squealing tires and blinding headlights are too much to ignore. You break the kiss and move in front of her, getting between her and the car.

“Run,” you tell her, giving her a push.

“What?” She blinks, staring at you, her cheeks looking very pink under the streetlights.

Then she realizes that she just kissed another girl in the middle of the street in Gurlberg. And she sees that the car that just stopped ten feet away is a police car.

She freezes up, but only for a second.

“Go,” you say. “I got it.”

Her eyes are wide, but she turns and runs. She’s so fast. Wow. You watch her go wistfully. She is so amazing.

Then you hear a car door slam and turn to face Stark, who has just emerged from her squad car. You raise a hand to shield your eyes against the headlights, which are still pointed straight at you.

“I saw that,” Stark says.

Yes. That was the idea. You just committed a crime in front of a police officer. You can still taste Riley’s lip balm.

“Oh, god,” Stark says. “It’s you.”

So she recognizes you now. You’re flattered.

“Oh no,” you say, pretending to wobble. “I’m dizzy.” You drop to your knees, and Stark hesitates. She was in the act of coming toward you with her nightstick, but now she pauses, uncertain. “Oh god. I drank too much.”

“No shit,” she replies.

You get back up and take a step back as she advances.

“Stay there,” she warns.

“Ohh, so dizzy,” you moan, putting your hand on your forehead.

“How about you get on your fucking knees?” she asks, pointing at the ground.

“OK,” you say, getting on your knees.

Stark gets behind you and cuffs your hands behind your back, lifting you to your feet and pulling you back to the car. She tosses you into the backseat.

“I’m going to be sick,” you groan.

“Not in my fucking car you’re not,” Stark replies, pulling you out again and putting you on the pavement. It’s working. You’re wasting her time. Your heart’s racing, but it’s working. You stay there on your knees as long as you can.

“Are you puking or not?” Stark demands.

“Uhh,” you reply, trying to sound queasy.

“For fuck’s sake.” She throws you back in the car and climbs in. You don’t know how much time you bought, but you’re sweating for the short drive back to the station. There, she pulls you out and takes you inside.

But there’s no one at the desk. You can hear some commotion from elsewhere in the station, and Stark notices it too. “What’s going on?” she asks into her radio but doesn’t get a reply.

Troubled, she quickly books you, fingerprints you, and throws you in a cell. You’re the only one there. Gurlberg’s jail isn’t very big.

Stark hurries out. As soon as she’s gone, you let out a huge breath. You don’t know what to feel. It’s a lot. It’s intense.

You’ve never been arrested before. It wasn’t that bad, but you didn’t even get the full treatment. Quick paperwork, fingerprints, and Stark took and bagged your wallet, keys, and phone.

Now you’re in this cell.

But you’re alone. If there’s no one else here, that means no one’s been arrested. That means the plan worked.

You sit down on the hard bench with a smile on your face. Free Gurls have merch again. Maybe now the club can get back to normal. And the cops? They aren’t going to be happy, but they’re never happy.

There are so many feelings to untangle. Riley. Stef. The club. Getting arrested.

You did what you had to do. The club has to come first, always. As you lean back against the cold, concrete wall, you try not to think about Riley’s clear, blue eyes, or her soft, warm lips. You did the right thing. Letting the club down for a cute girl… you could not do that.

And Riley? It was dark out there, and there was crazy glare from the headlights. You got in the way in time. There’s no way that Stark got a good look at her. She’ll be OK.

You take deep breaths and stare at the bars in front of you. Doing time? Most of the girls have done it. Jan has for sure. Stef too. And Carla. Fang? You aren’t sure. Caroline? Hmm. Vicky has been not just to jail, but to prison. She never talks about it.

Breathing helps. The lights overhead crackle and buzz. You can hear things going on in other parts of the station, but no details. It’s definitely Gurlberg’s Police Department realizing they’ve been robbed. You smile as you picture Fang in full catsuit mode burglarizing the shit out of them.

A part of you was relieved not to be a part of the heist, but another part wishes that you were. That will be a hell of a story to tell. You can just imagine what that was like: Fang, Caroline, and Carla creeping into the police station, whispering to each other as they fucked around with fences and locks, trying to get to the merch. Then them hustling out, carrying boxes, and loading them in the van.

It must’ve been so funny.

This cell is not very funny, but when you get out, they better tell you the story. You have a big smile on your face, even though you regret what happened with Riley. And especially dragging her into it, but you didn’t ask her to follow you into the street. You didn’t know what else to do. For fuck’s sake, there’s a reason you didn’t go to college. This isn’t on you. If you were a smart person, things would be different. God. Fucking Riley. Why’s she have to be so sweet and perfect? That’s not helping.

She deserves better than you. And something tells you that after tonight, she’s going to realize that.

You hear footsteps. Someone’s coming.

It’s Stark, and she looks pissed as hell. She knows everything. That they got broken into, and that you were just stalling her. She has a seriously scary look on her face, and you’re kind of glad you have these bars between you. Although, wouldn’t she be kind of attractive if things were different? Stark has short hair, but she’d look prettier with long. And she’s tall and in really good shape. Oh well.

“What?” you ask after she just stares at you for a while.

“Peace disturbance. Public lewdness.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Those are the crimes I’m charging you with,” she says, leaning on the bars and looking straight at you. “Maybe even aiding and abetting some real big crimes like a break-in at the police station.”

You knew this was coming. The public lewdness? You kissed a girl in the middle of Gurlberg in the presence of a police officer. Stark totally saw it from her car. You knew you were going to take the hit for that. Peace disturbance? OK. She’s obviously just trying to get you for anything that she can. It is what it is.

Aiding and abetting? She can’t prove that. It’s BS. She could only prove it if Stef made the call to you from her cell and was at the scene, but she wasn’t. Stef wasn’t there in person, she was running the heist from the clubhouse. So you can always just say that there’s incredible sexual tension between you and the president of Free Gurls, and she was just calling to ask what color underwear you had on. Your underwear is black boyshorts.

You are OK. They’re going to get you, but it’s only with small crimes. Stark can’t scare you like this.

“And that little slut you were with?” she goes on, and that gets your attention. “I saw her. I saw that little fucking redhead. I’ll find her, and she’ll get the same fucking charges. You understand me?”

“OK,” you say, your mouth feeling dry.

“You don’t look worried,” Stark says.

“I’m not,” you lie.

“You will be,” Stark promises.

…Futas of Anarchy will return for a second season! (If Patrons vote that it should.)